A Guide to Retrofitting Homes for Wind Protection
This online engineering PDH course introduces technical information needed for selecting and implementing wind retrofit projects for existing homes. It identifies three successive protection packages: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced, which are specifically developed for existing homes.
Hurricane Katrina damaged or destroyed 234,230 single-family homes in Mississippi alone (FEMA, 2006a). After Katrina, FEMA developed this Guide to assist homeowners and builders to improve the protection of existing homes from high wind. While a significant volume of guidance has been developed for designing new structures to resist high winds, little has been developed to guide homeowners and builders to improve the safety of existing homes.
This 8 PDH online course is applicable to civil and structural engineers, architects and contractors interested in learning about retrofitting homes for wind protection. This course is applicable to one-family and two-family dwellings in coastal regions and tornado prone regions. It is not applicable to manufactured (HUD Code) housing.
This PE continuing education course is intended to provide you with the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Understanding wind retrofit project types
- Identifying the risks and desired level of protection
- Understanding wind hazards in hurricane-prone regions
- Understanding wind hazards and building codes
- Knowing how to evaluate an existing home
- Understanding basic, intermediate and advanced mitigation package evaluations
- Determining whether a home is a good candidate for a wind retrofit project
- Understanding how to strengthen vents and soffits
- Learning about technical design and construction methods
- Learning about improvements with and without roof covering replacement
- Learning how to strengthen overhangs at gable end walls
- Understanding the methods for protecting openings
- Learning about bracing gable end walls
- Learning how to strengthen connections of attached structures
- Developing a continuous load path
- Learning how to handle exterior wall coverings, tree falls and exterior equipment
- Learning how to implement mitigation projects
- Familiarizing with wind retrofit programs
In this professional engineering CEU course, you need to review the document titled, “A Guide to Retrofitting Homes for Wind Protection” which is based on the FEMA publication, Wind Retrofit Guide for Residential Buildings.
Once you complete your course review, you need to take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of forty (40) questions to earn 8 PDH credits. The quiz will be based on this FEMA publication.
Upon successful completion of the quiz, print your Certificate of Completion instantly. (Note: if you are paying by check or money order, you will be able to print it after we receive your payment.) For your convenience, we will also email it to you. Please note that you can log in to your account at any time to access and print your Certificate of Completion.